I am in pattaya and want to ho to bangkok. I stay at the Rose hotel nesr soi twilight. it is fairly close to the river. can anyone in bangkok now let me know the situation? If it in a danger zone i will stay put here.

I live in Sathorn (see the map link provided by Combat) and there are no floods in Sathorn Road, nor where there any in Silom Road on Monday and Tuesday when I went shopping at Tops Supermarket at Central Silom (by Sala Daeng BTS Station). There has been a lot of panic buying, which I first noticed at the large Tesco’s on Rama III on Sunday and saw again on Monday and Tuesday.

I read in the Bangkok Post this morning that the flood defences have not been effective in some cases which have resulted in flooding in the suburbs. I don’t think the government has been able to confirm that the main business and commercial areas will be free of flooding. It would seem that the highest risks from flooding will be Friday through to Monday. Please don’t just take my word for it please have a look at the Bangkok Post website before deciding to leave Pattaya. (Sorry I don't know how to make the link.)

We have had two heavy downpours today and still no signs of flooding. I asked my concierge staff about the likelihood of flooding and they confirmed that there is a danger on Friday. I asked about the likely depth of the water and was told it might come up to knee level.

By the way I enjoyed reading your posts on your experiences in the bars in Pattaya. If I’ve read you correctly it seems to me that you’ve had your fill of those bars and are looking for pastures new. If you don’t already possess a pair of shorts and some flip-flops I’d go out and purchase them and stick to your original plans for coming to Bangkok.

Oh, and finally, I’ve just received the following general email from Michael Hancock, HM Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok:

Message from the Consul at the British Embassy in Bangkok to the British Community.

I'm sure you are all keeping a close eye on the weather and flood situation wherever you are in Thailand. We too are monitoring the situation closely so that we can provide up-to-date and accurate information to British visitors and residents. I thought you might be interested to see the current wording (12 October) about the flooding in the Travel Advice and have inserted the main summary below:

September and October are the height of the monsoon season in Thailand. Heavy rainfall across the country continues to cause widespread flooding, flash floods and mudslides and has resulted in disruption and over 260 deaths. The most affected areas are the north, north-east and central Thailand. Airports, including Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport are operating normally. There has been some disruption to road and rail transport, particularly on routes north of Bangkok. If you are in an affected area exercise caution and follow the advice of local authorities. To check areas affected and transport infrastructure impacted please see the regular reports published by the Thai 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre. Check with your tour operator, local media, the 24/7 Emergency Operations Centre or the Thai Meteorological Department for up-to-date information and warnings before you travel.

The full Travel Advice for Thailand is available at: http://ukinthailand.fco.gov.uk/en/help- ... vel-advice We will continue to monitor the situation and will update the Travel Advice regularly. For this reason I suggest you check it frequently. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Please feel free to forward this message to anyone you believe might be interested in seeing it. Many thanks.

Beachlover wrote:Don't know much about flooding so I'm only guessing if those central CBD areas flood it'll just depend on how long it takes for the drainage systems to clear all the water.

Normally any flooding in Bangkok disappears after a reasonable short time once the heavy rains have stopped. The problems faced by Bangkok are because of inadequate drainage systems plus its relative height to sea level. A dam further up north had burst or overflowed the other day so combining that and the amount of rain (The Thai's like to call it 'A Thousand Year Rain') undue amounts of water had been flowing towards Bangkok. Most of this has been, and will be averted. It's not always good practice not wearing shoes, but if one does find oneself somewhere where there is a lot of water remove your shoes and socks, roll up your trousers and paddle, everyone else does, just tread carefully to avoid injuring your feet, oh and watch out for any stray crocodiles!!!!

Normally I do my major weekly shop on a Sunday because the roads in Bangkok are relatively quiet. But at Thai school on Friday my teacher suggested I shop that day because she said the shops were running out of food, water and other essentials like toilet paper! I said I thought the worst was over and that the runoff water had passed into the Gulf of Thailand, although from my casual reading of the Bangkok Post, it appeared that the government’s assessment of the situation was changing from day to day. Actually, she said, it is changing hour by hour. Her husband is a doctor and had been called to the flooded regions to help out and move patients to hospitals in Bangkok. She said he attends daily briefings and they fear that contaminated water in the canals is going to be let loose on the streets of Bangkok and that central Bangkok, which was considered ‘low risk’ is not now considered immune to contaminated flood water. It is feared that the number of people needing hospital treatment because of contact with infected water might be unmanageable.

My teacher added that the government is not telling the truth and is afraid to lose face by asking for outside help. She told me that many of the factories which distribute food and water to the capital are flooded and that the roads from those factories into Bangkok are impassable. For example, she said the company which distributes to the 7/11 franchise can no longer supply those chain of shops and some are already closing. Rather alarmingly she added that she thought central Bangkok would now be affected by the flood waters. Although, today Saturday, I see that the latest news is that the flood level in the Chao Phraya River has begun to recede.

So off I went to Tesco Lotus on Rama III, but I could not find a parking space, I’d never seen the car park that full. I parked in a yellow cross-hatched no parking zone. Inside Tesco’s it was bedlam, I’ve never seen it that busy and I’ve never seen the shelves so empty. Absolutely no water for sale, there were hardly any soft drinks or juices left for sale. The rice section was fast running out. All the snacks were gone, there was no bread for sale and the toilet paper section was also in danger of running out. Phew! Just as well my teacher advised me to shop on Friday because I don’t believe there would be anything left by tomorrow.

Today, Saturday, I went to Tops Supermarket in Central Silom (by BTS Sala Daeng). The first thing I noticed is that the number and height of the sand bags had increased to about 4 feet. Inside the shelves looked just as empty of the bare essentials, although I was able to find bread, tins of soup and the last three cartons of my favourite mixed berry fruit juice. But definitely no water. Even the 7/11 next door had no water for sale.

Normally a replacement 18.9 litre bottle of water is delivered to my apartment on a Saturday. But I was told yesterday that the company that delivers the water is on one of the flooded industrial estates. No one was able to tell me when the next delivery would be made. I usually get through one and a bit bottles of water a week and I currently have a whole bottle and an open ¾ full bottle in use and about 20 small bottles in storage. If used sparingly maybe this will last about 2 weeks. Will the situation be resolved by then? Who knows?

But despite all of this I am in a far better position than millions of Thais, some of whom have seen their loved ones killed in the floods, their homes destroyed and their places of employment ruined. My intention in writing this post is not to grumble or complain, but to give those of you who are interested a small insight into how the flooding is affecting a foreigner who lives in central Bangkok.

Just like during the riots, twitter seems to be the only way to get up-to-date information. The #ThaiFloodEng feed is good, although you do have to know your BKK geography well, and don't regard all reports as accurate.http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ThaiFloodEng%20-rt

The local English language papers are too slow (even online), and one international news outlet announced earlier this week that Bangkok was under water. The government can't be trusted, partly it seems because it doesn't know.

With about 10 billion m3 of water still north of the city, and only about 1/20th of that able to flow to the sea each day, the situation isn't going to resolve itself quickly.

The question now is just how dry inner BKK will stay as the water flows around it, and whether tap water and power stay on.

The BBC says that Mrs Yingluck has said that Thailand's worst flooding in decades is set to last another four to six weeks and she warned people in Bangkok to be prepared for flooding there describing the situation as extremely serious so that makes it nearly Xmas time doesn't it? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15413818

I have always boiled my tap water and then bottled it in LOS. Waste of money buying bottled water and as for the large containers that suppliers deliver, one can never be 100% certain how they were filled at sourse anyway.